In many industries, such as the aerospace industry, repairs are made to metal bonded and composite epoxy structures using vacuum bag or blanket repair systems. Curing systems or hot bonders provide and control a vacuum with the bag surrounding the repair site. It is also desired to provide and control a cure temperature at the repair site. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,468,372, 6,373,028, 6,270,603, 6,206,067, 6084,206 for examples of such blanket repair systems, the disclosures of which are expressly incorporated herein in their entireties by reference. When the system is portable, repairs can be made on location such as, for example, right on the vehicle to save manpower and reduce downtime.
While prior systems generally perform their intended purpose, they have difficulty processing new technology composite patches. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved portable curing system or hot bonder.